10. Chemical Examination

I think this goes for every students in Korea. I'm not sure about other countries, but mostly when you are born in Korea, from the moment you enter elementary school until you graduate, your parents would likely to tell you about how "studying" and "knowledge" is the most important factor in your life. Whenever my parents told me that, I certainly opposed to their sayings and walked away, but reading this chapted gave me another chance to reconsider the saying. Just how "knowledge" helped Primo in the concentration camp to survive longer than other Jews.

This chapter describes the process of the chemical examination where officers choose the talented and educated ones to work on a privileged workspace. If one is qualified and chosen, they can be exempted from harsh physical labor, but can work using their brains. This chapter may seem wearisome and difficult, but I think that this chapter sets the turning point for Primo since he finds a glimpse of hope from the job that he earns. In previous chapters, it was described how Primo was accepted in the lab and how brutal the work was, and how he had no hope of surviving the camp. Primo's acceptance in this chapter, however, sets off the turning point for Primo to start having hope again.

Therefore I want to bring up a life lesson that I learned from this chapter. Learning is always good! You'll never know it when you're learning, but who knows! You never know, maybe writing diaries like this might save your life in the future!